1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the manufacture of candles. More particularly, the invention relates to the manufacturing of a wax impregnated candle wick. Most particularly, the invention relates to a crimping tool used in the manufacture of a wax impregnated candle wick for attaching an eyelet to the wick.
2. State of the Art
It is well known in the art of candle making to pass a wick material through a bath of molten candle wax to impregnate the wick with wax. In the mass production of candles, a continuous string of wick material (cotton, paper, or other material) is fed through a series of operations including bathing the wick in molten wax. The state of the art apparatus for bathing the wick material is usually a single idler pulley or grooved stud located below the surface of the molten wax bath. The wick material is guided by pulleys or grooved studs to the bath whereupon it is fed through the bath by traveling under the single idler pulley or grooved stud which is located beneath the surface of the molten wax. Upon exiting the bath, the wax impregnated wick is passed through one or more dies whereby excess wax is trimmed and the final diameter of the wick is determined. Finally, the semi-finished wick is fed to an eyelet crimping station. The wick is fed through the eyelet. The eyelet is crimped, and the wick is cut to size. The eyelet prevents the wick from passing through the bore of a candle which has been molded without the wick and then bored to accept the wick.
State of the art machines for crimping an eyelet to a candle wick include an indexed circular work station having a rotatable disk with a plurality of peripheral notches. The notches are dimensioned to hold the eyelets. As an eyelet is indexed to position, a wick is inserted and the eyelet is crimped by a pneumatically driven crimping tool. The crimping tool is a rectilinear rod which flattens one side of the eyelet. The state of the art crimping tools have several disadvantages. The tools easily become misaligned so that less than an ideal amount of the eyelet is crimped. If the tool is loose, it will slide over the round eyelet, barely crimping it at all. Moreover, the state of the art crimping tools wear quickly. As the tool wears, the crimping foot print changes and the quality of the crimps diminishes.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved crimping tool for securing an eyelet to a candle wick.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved crimping tool for securing an eyelet to a candle wick which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved crimping tool for securing an eyelet to a candle wick which provides secure crimps even if misaligned.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an improved crimping tool for securing an eyelet to a candle wick which is self-centering if it becomes loose.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an improved crimping tool for securing an eyelet to a candle wick which can be used in an existing crimping station.
It is still another object of the invention to provide an improved crimping tool for securing an eyelet to a candle wick which is suitable for an assembly line manufacturing process.
In accord with these objects which will be discussed in detail below, the crimping tool according to the invention includes a cylindrical C-5 carbide rod having a plurality of laser cut pyramid points on one end. An adapter sleeve is also provided for attaching the tool to an existing pneumatic press. The pyramid pattern on the end of the tool provides several unexpected benefits. First, the points engage the eyelet and prevent the tool from slipping off the eyelet during the crimping operation. Second, the crimps produced by the tool have a greater surface area than the conventional crimps, exerting more pressure on the wick core without shearing fibers. The pressure exerted on the wick is 25-35% greater than a conventional crimp. Further, the carbide material wears much slower than the conventional crimping tools. This assures a consistency in crimping over a long period of time.
An exemplary embodiment of the crimping tool according to the invention is approximately 1.625 inches long and approximately 0.090 inches in diameter. Five pyramids are cut into one end of the tool in a+pattern. Each pyramid has a base which is approximately 0.030 inches square and an altitude of approximately 0.030 inches.